Information Technology Project Management: Providing Measurable Organizational Value, Fourth Edition

CHAPTER 1

The Nature of Information Technology Projects

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

Chapter 1 provides an overview of information technology project management (ITPM). After studying this chapter, you should understand and be able to:

• Describe the dominant eras of information systems called the electronic data processing (EDP) era, the micro era, the network era, and the globalization era, and understand how managing IT projects has evolved during these eras.
• Understand the current state of IT project management and how successfully managing IT projects remains a challenge for most organizations.
• Explain the value-driven, socio-technical, project management, and knowledge management approaches that support ITPM.
• Define what a project is and describe its attributes.
• Define the discipline called project management.
• Describe the role and impact IT projects have on an organization.
• Identify the different roles and interests of project stakeholders.
• Describe eXtreme project management.
• Identify the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) core knowledge areas.

INTRODUCTION

Information technology (IT) projects are organizational investments. When an organization builds or implements an IT solution, it often commits considerable time, money, and resources to the project with an expectation of receiving something of value in return. To improve the chances of success, you will be introduced ...